revivingKensArt (4 Viewers)

solitaryVSong · Oct 21, 2009

Colleen's comment about learning about bird flight from watching 'Winged Migration' stuck in my mind. So when I found it on sale for under $10 at Amazon last week I bought it. Last night I had an enjoyable time sketching from it as the film rolled on. It's a great way, at least for me, to get used to drawing birds that may move very quickly.

Also had a little more experience with that this weekend with a flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Only when doing a quick watercolor from memory based on these sketches did I realize that I had the wingbars slanting in two directions in different sketches.

colleenc · Oct 21, 2009

You succeeded well with the cranes, I've never seen the kinglet,it is hard to do birds from memory, I think, so it's a good exercise. When sketching from the movie, I sometimes go frame by frame in slo mo to see the motion of the wing beat..

solitaryVSong · Oct 21, 2009

I'm not sure of proper etiquette here, though I imagine someone will tell me that there is none.

Maybe this should be a separate thread. In any case I wanted to post this link to a lengthy article on John Busby which I came across today:http://www.wildlifeartjournal.com/articles/wildlife-art-journal-premium-content/fall-2009/82/the-remarkable-mr-busby.html.

I think there's a fair amount of interest in him here. I stumbled upon it today and honestly I don't remember how. It's at the web site of a wildlife art magazine but since I'm completely unfamiliar with all such magazines I'm not sure whether it's a magazine that everyone reads or no one reads. If you're all familiar with it then maybe this will be old news to you and you've already read the article.

The reproductions are small but I found the article very interesting myself.

Ken

timwootton · Oct 21, 2009

Cheers Ken - but it looks like you have to subscribe to see the content.

solitaryVSong · Oct 21, 2009

Tim,

I didn't have to. Most of their stuff you have to pay for but this one was free. I just checked it now and it does look like it throws up a big subscribe window at the top. But if you just check the 'Close this Window' link at bottom of that box you can still read it.

That subscribe window wasn't there when I posted it. Maybe after a few hits on any article they throw it up? In any case I hope people will be able to read it without problems.

Ken

colleenc · Oct 22, 2009

Fabulous article, when you get to the site Ken gave just turn off the subscripting thing at the bottom of that window and go herehttp://www.wildlifeartjournal.com/articles/wildlife-art-journal-premium-content/fall-2009/82/the-remarkable-mr-busby.html?subscription_popup_hide=1

solitaryVSong · Oct 25, 2009

I recently got my photos back from my trip to the Midwest, mainly Wisconsin, a few weeks ago. So I've been doing all sorts of sketches in the sketchbook looking for something to turn into a more developed drawing or watercolor. I did do one quick fieldsketch of the sora but wasn't able to do any at all for this punkish looking green heron.

We rarely see soras, particularly up close. But on two evenings we had up to three at a time running skittishly in and out of the reeds about 6-10 feet from us. Most likely I'll try to do a painting from these sora sketches. They're always a real pleasure to see.

timwootton · Oct 25, 2009

Yowser - great drawings Ken! The bottom right sketch of the sora is a little beaut! Herons look very good.

ARTHUR BISHOP · Oct 25, 2009

some super sketching Ken

solitaryVSong · Oct 25, 2009

Thanks Tim and Art,

I have been having fun recently doing a lot of sketching. I'm not sure why I abandoned the practice for so long. In any case I'm off to Cape May soon to spend a few days sketching whatever might be around: sparrows, shorebirds, hawks, a few lingering warblers. I hope I'll have a lot to show for it when I return.

Ken

nickderry · Oct 26, 2009

some fantastic little characters on these last pages, I agree with Tim about that sora - superb angle. I also really enjoyed how your cranes came out, a nice fusion of bird and habitat.

Woody · Oct 26, 2009

Too many great sketches to comment on Ken, suffice to say it's a pleasure to view the lot!

Mike

solitaryVSong · Oct 31, 2009

Thanks so much Nick and Mike. Sorry it's taken so long to respond but I've been out on a 5-day birding/sketching vacation at Cape May/Brigantine. I just wish the field sketches I did there turned out as well as the sora and green heron that were based on photos I took and field sketches. But they do seem to be getting a wee bit better, and it was a lot of fun!

I'll probably post a few in the next day or two.

Woody · Oct 31, 2009

Five days sounds like bliss! Looking forward to the results.

Mike

solitaryVSong · Nov 2, 2009

5 days was pretty close to bliss, only marred a bit by cold and damp weather and my catching a cold for last few days. But that didn't stop us from getting out for about 8 hours a day. One of the beauties of the Cape May area is that there are so many different birds there and so much different habitat within an hours drive. So we reallly saw a lot.

I'm always torn about what to show here. My fieldsketches are really undeveloped compared to so much of what I see here. But those better sketches do serve as an inspiration. In any case I was going to show only the better of my stuff from this trip but then decided to just show it all. We've had little sun here recently and suddenly I can't seem to focus my camera any more so these aren't the best of photos.

Included in this bunch are: common eiders, northern pintail, american shoveler, ring-necked duck, american coot, peregrine and merlin, hooded merganser, lesser yellowlegs and short-billed dowitcher among others.

solitaryVSong · Nov 2, 2009

The second batch of sketches includes: american avocet, ruddy duck, many dunlins (whose bill I just could never get right!), black-crowned night herons both immature and mature, semi-palmated plover, another northern pintail, more common eiders and a western sandpiper.

I do have to say that I started on this forum in late June of this year. And I really thought it would help me to get out and do more work from life. This week's vacation proved that that is exactly what happened. I've gotten where working from life is starting to seem natural. It was a great pleasure and even my wife is starting to enjoy it as well. Thanks to all for your encouragement.

Now that colder weather is starting to arrive my guess is that I'll do far fewer fieldsketches but instead more developed studio work that hopefully shows some of what I've been learning from the field.

nickderry · Nov 3, 2009

plenty to occupy those long winter nights here!

solitaryVSong · Nov 3, 2009

Much too early for long winter nights in my book but what can you do! Nature marches to it's own drummer. I really haven't done much studio work in awhile to it's nice to have something to work from. And now with the 15 minute limit on my watercolors I should really speed along..............

timwootton · Nov 3, 2009

Just a quick shout for this latest traunch of drawings. The level is certainly increasing and the joy is also very apparent. Looks like the hard work is really starting to reap some rewards.

solitaryVSong · Nov 3, 2009

timwootton;1635995... and the joy is also very apparent. [/QUOTE said:
I've always thought that's one of the most important things that art can get across, and what makes it so valuable to so many people. It's hard for me to see my own work as accomplishing that, at least my bird art, but I couldn't be happier if that is actually the case!

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